Rugby : Respect is an honor earned, not given!

The game Rugby has been under a lot of scrutiny over the last few months with a campaign that wants to ban tackling in our schools, silly initiation ceremonies and the physical impact that the game is having towards player health at the top level of the game.

With all of this going on we tend to forget about grass roots Rugby and the core values that make the sport of Rugby stand out above other sports.
The most important being respect, respecting your teammates, the referee and most importantly the opposition. You may go to battle on the pitch but the most important thing is that after the final whistle you earn the respect of your opposite number and shake their hand as without them you wouldn’t be able to play.

It is important to remember that in grass roots Rugby it is not about being paid to play, it is about the enjoyment of the game and playing with your friends and this stems from the 1st team right the way through to the social side within your local club.

Last weekend Belsize Park Bulls reminded us all about the term RESPECT and our club is extremely proud of the team and especially the 3 individuals.

Whilst playing a tough game at Harlequinns amateurs they finished the game and carried out the usual post match rituals of a few beers and serenading each other to Taylor Swift in the sheds.

Just before heading out one of players noticed that a member of the opposition team had collapsed in the hallway and called for help, he was joined by two other players. In this moment they saw that the players face was turning blue and immediately reacted by taking off his tie, clearing his airways and placing him in the recovery position.
A roaming response paramedic was in the area and confirmed that the player was going into a cardiac arrest.
Between our players and the response paramedic they managed to do CPR for around 40minutes with the player having to be resuscitated several times but he did not give up and neither did anyone involved. They all took it in turns to keep doing cpr until the ambulance arrived and maintaining chest compressions at that intensity for that amount of time is not very easy, especially when knowing a life is at stake.

The ambulance arrived and managed to stabilise the player and both they and the police confirmed that if our Belsize Bulls had not reacted in the manner that they did and in the time they did we would have a much sadder story to report on. The fact that no one gave up and kept going is a real testament to the ‘respect’ earned in a game but also the ‘respect’ for someones life.

Belsize Park have heard that the player is recovering after surgery from a blockage to his heart and has been discharged from hospital and is back at home with his wife and kids.

As a club we are extremely proud and across all of our teams have the up most respect for Dominic Waterhouse, Nathan Gray and Alex Taylor as they are not just heroes within our club but also to the game itself and what it stands for.

If they did not react in the way they did and in the manner they did it is very likely that we may have lost an amazing brother of our extraordinary game, Rugby.